Twelve years after its original release, it looks as though Isao Takahata's movie Grave of the Fireflies is going to make a few more people break down and cry. Canadian channel Télé Québec, in a quite unexpected move, scheduled the French version of the movie, Le Tombeau des Lucioles, for broadcast this Sunday evening at 9:30 PM. The version that will be aired is apparently the French dub, made in 1997 for French video release -- the movie had been released in France in June of 1996, in a limited number of theaters but only in a subbed version. Although this dub obviously didn't have a large budget, video publisher Kaze Animation tried to respect the original dub's spirit by having child voice actors play Seita and Setsuko's parts, just like the Japanese version had a five-year old girl play the role of Setsuko.

For those not familiar with Grave of the Fireflies, the film is based on the best-selling autobiographical novel Hotaru no Haka, written by Akiyuki Nosaka in 1968. Describing the plight of two orphans struggling to survive and be free near the end of World War II in Japan, the novel made quite an impact on the Japanese scene because of Nosaka's unusual and relatively rebellious reaction against the common Japanese feelings regarding World War II's events. The movie adaptation, made in 1988 under the direction of Studio Ghibli's Isao Takahata, isn't as critical as the novel, yet its high educational value and heartrending emotional content paved the way for its critical acclaim all around the globe. Furthermore, the animation and drawing quality has lost nothing of its excellence after twelve years.

Considered by many to be one of the best anime films ever produced, Grave of the Fireflies is certainly a movie anime fans and non-fans alike shouldn't miss. So, be in front of the tube, tuned into Télé Québec, this Sunday at 9.30 pm!

For those of you who won't have a chance to catch this French broadcast of Grave of the Fireflies, take a peek at our review of the movie here, as well as our extensive collection of screen shots here, to get an idea of what you'll be missing.